Stars Apart (Seven Systems #1) by Nathan Greaves

In the seedy underworld of the Seven Civilised Systems, connections are currency, and secrets are a resource.

But sometimes connections come with a cost, and secrets aren’t worth the price of keeping them. It’s a lesson the crew of the Iron Vyper – framed for a crime they didn’t commit, and on the run from enemies they didn’t even know they had – are now learning the hard way.

Pursued by both authorities and criminals alike, the crew – a captain torn between regret and redemption, a former soldier fleeing from his failures, a shipmate with history hidden even from herself, and a hitchhiker who sells secrets for a living – find themselves on the fringes of a vast conspiracy, as they struggle to clear their names and uncover the truth behind the brewing conflict.

But secrets don’t surrender without a fight, and winning one battle could risk starting a war.